Apple’s Tim Cook Granted Restraining Order Against Alleged Stalker
Woman allegedly threatened, harassed, trespassed and stalked Apple’s Tim Cook for more than a year, and claimed to be his wife
Apple has been granted a restraining order against a woman who allegedly threatened, harassed and stalked CEO Tim Cook for more than a year.
According to CNN, late last week a court filing with the Santa Clara County Superior Court, alleged a woman from Virginia has exhibited “erratic, threatening and bizarre” behaviour.
Cook was in the headlines earlier this month when it was reported that his salary had risen to nearly $100m in 2021, from $14.8m the previous year.
Restraining order
The woman allegedly stalking Tim Cook drove across the country to make personal contact with him.
She even trespassed on his property on two occasions, according to the filing.
She also claimed to be his wife and said they had twins together, the filing said.
Those claims are remarkable, considering the fact that the notoriously private Tim Cook publicly declared in 2014 that he is gay.
The Apple filing however said that for more than a year, the woman sent threats directly to Tim Cook via email messages and Twitter.
The threats apparently included pictures of a loaded gun and a package of ammunition.
The woman has been identified in a number of media outlets, and she would reportedly tag the Apple CEO in tweets, according to the filing, and write private messages that insinuated she wanted a sexual relationship, stating she “couldn’t live any longer” and “patience are [sic] almost done.”
It has been alleged that between October and mid-November 2020, the woman sent Cook nearly 200 emails that “showed a significant escalation in tone, becoming threatening and highly disturbing,” the filing said.
Still at large
In October 2021, the woman was detained by local police after trespassing on the private property of Tim Cook, where she allegedly told law enforcement she “could be violent.”
CNN reported the filing also claims that the woman attempted to open fraudulent businesses under Cook’s name.
Last month, she allegedly demanded $500 million from Cook to “forget and forgive”, CNN reported.
In the filing, Apple said it believes the woman may still be armed in the South Bay area of San Francisco and “intends to return to the Apple’s CEO’s residence or locate him otherwise in the future.”
She had now been ordered to stay clear of the home of Tim Cook by at least 200 yards.
She has also reportedly been banned from possessing guns and approaching Cook or other Apple staff.
Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A hearing on the matter is apparently set for March.
Stalking issues
This is not the first time Apple has had to deal with a stalking issue.
In 2012 an app called ‘Girls Around Me’ was removed from Apple’s App store, as it allowed the app users to view the location of women who had signed into location-based social network Foursquare.
And more recently Apple has been forced to address stalking concerns over its AirTag tracking devices.
Apple released a software update after users complained that they could be used to stalk people.
